Thingstone shared this intro and overview of the Track8, a new 8-track hardware arranger.
The Track8 is designed to let you capture your creative ideas, without the distractions of working with a Digital Audio Workstation on your computer.
Features:
- Full sized Connections:
- 1/4” Headphone output
- XLR Mono 60db Preamp Input with +48V Phantom power
- 1/4” Mono Line Input
- 1/4” Stereo Line Input
- Full Size DIN Midi Input / Output
- 2 x USB-A for Midi and Storage Media
- Standard USB-C for Power Delivery
- Audio:
- 8 Audio Tracks
- Copy, Cut, Paste up to 8 minutes of audio including multiple Tracks
- Bounce multiple tracks in place
- 8 minutes of Undo Stack
- Count In, Punch In
- Level, Pan & Mute for individual Tracks
- 120GB of internal Storage
- Record up to 4h long Projects
- Each Track is one float 32bit WAV file for easy export
- Audio Edit
- Volume/Pan Automation
- Detail editing
- Nudge Audio
- Zoom in up to 2048x
- MIDI
- 8 MIDI Tracks
- Copy, Cut, Paste Single or multiple Tracks
- Each Track can be sent to Midi Channels 1-16
- Mute individual Midi Tracks
- MIDI Edit
- Automate MIDI CC, Modulation, Pitch Pend
- Step Record single and Multiple Notes
- Detailed Editing of individual Notes
- Velocity and Quantization Adjustments
- Master FX
- Delay and Reverb Effects
- Master Compressor/Limiter
- Detailed Clipping detection
- Track FX
- HP, LP, BP, Notch Filter
- Track Compressor
- Delay and Reverb Send
- File Browser
- Load Audi/Midi Files from USB
- Easy copy and pasting into Tracks
- Export Clipboard content to USB as Audio or MIDI file
- Pre-listen Midi Files with Midi Channel selection
- Misc
- Create Multiple Projects
- Mixdown Project as a single WAV file to USB
- Export Project Stems to USB
- Connect via USB-C to a Computer and access the internal SSD
Details on pricing and availability are to come at the Thingstone site. .
I love how people moan about DAWs and then drool over any self-contained sequencer that does most of the same things. This one seems designed for serious fun. Its has good specs and I/O, for sure. The GUI will take a little added study, but it feels like the best such goodie in a while.
It’s the computer people struggle with rather than the DAW. Hardware is king. ??
wtf this thing is incredible !!
Kind of austere but looks great for recording acoustic sources or where an external device is doing the sequencing. Kind of annoying that they don’t state the price up front, but I guess harvesting emails is a worthwhile tradeoff for them. 899 Euro or less and it’s a winner.
Finally we have something resembling a modern “arranger” device. If I was some sort of DAWless purist, I’d be all over this one. Looks like a nice device for building complex DAW-like arrangements, although with only 8 tracks, you still need to be creative with your track allocations like in the old days..
few things missing imo ?
fx param automations
synchro playhead with daw playhead (via midi in), so that track8 plays along a daw of choice
insert empty space in loop (nudge the whole thing)
probably other things, but i dig the concept ! It functions a lot like my customized reaper, very cool 🙂 no nonsense, awesome. <3
Plays along with a DAW? I think you misunderstand the purpose of this device.
Don’t be condescending for the sake of it. It’d be interesting to be able to sync this unit with a daw playhead. I’d like to record backing vocals harmonies on the track8 and get it to sync with a DAW session. Don’t be condescending for the sake of it.
Supposedly it’ll be about 1500 Euro. Unless I’m missing something, I could get an Akai Force or MPC and have all the same functionality and more, plus some extra money left over. But yeah, retro design and all that…I get the appeal, but there’s a point where it seems ridiculous to pay that much more to avoid a modern screen.
For those who profess to champion their local economies, uphold shared values, and reward genuine craftsmanship, it bears emphasizing that this builder—save for the keycaps, sourced from an increasingly authoritarian United States—relied exclusively on European suppliers. Even more striking, he openly disclosed every one of them, a rare and almost principled act of honesty in an industry all too comfortable hiding behind anonymity and marketing gloss.
Perhaps, then, this is not the “value proposition” some seek—if, indeed, value is measured only in the narrow terms of price. As for the instrument’s evolving feature set, such creations are not static; they mature, refine, and accrue capability over time. Growth, after all, is a process—both for the tools we build and the people who build (or critique) them.
No balanced stereo out is a bit sad :(…
Keep coming back to this. I find it very tempting…. Simple and does what it needs too, however I Do wish I could record at least the stereo and mono (drum tracks) at the same time. Not a deal breaker as my drums don’t need automation or anything it’s jus an on off type affair so recording separately could actually make things less hecktic.
This is lovely but out of my budget by A LOT